Xander lay on the bed and wondered what he was going to do. //Sunny-D is gone… the First is banished, Anya… damn it Anya's dead. Buffy is retired and Giles is setting up the new Watcher's Council… the Slayerlings have everything from Taiwan to Dallas under control… Andrew has left to start that computer company… and I'm left without an eye without a job and without a future… damn it I need a drink.//
Xander was swaying on the stage looking over the gathered demons that seemed to be doing there best to ignore him "What… yous don think I can take you? Why don't one of yous stand up and fight," he slurred out as the two large Bregen Demons stepped up and grabbed both of his arms before they started to drag him to the back. "No fighting allowed human… go home or find yourself somewhere else to drink," they said and with a shove sent him out the back door into a pile of trash.
"Wha's the matter… can't stand seein a human kick your asses," he mumbled as he forced himself to his feet. //Aah hell… last bottle was a mistake// he thought absently as he doubled over and retched in the alley.
Thankfully the rain was enough that most of it was gone when he crashed to the ground. It took him a while before he was able to pull himself up and lean against the alley wall. Looking around he finally noticed the tall figure standing a few feet away "Wha do you want… yous wanna fight me?" he said as the figure uncrossed his arms from his chest and threw a small object to Xander. "No… I want to fight him," the figure said as he pointed to the object on the ground.
Xander pulled all his remaining strength to pick up the object and froze when he realized what he was holding. "Holy god… I thought this disappeared on Halloween," he said as he stared at the mask of a black panther for several seconds before he looked back up at the figure and realized he had on a similar leopard mask. "Maybe I have a future after all… where's the rest of my armor?"
Xander bit down on the urge to scream as Jose twisted his arm and jerked in an attempt to rip it out of socket. Instead he swung with his right in a heavy haymaker before he reversed the hold and twisted his opponents arm around to his back. Snapping out in a low kick he brought him to his knee's before he wrapped his arm around his opponent's neck and applied pressure. At well shy of the ten seconds needed to knock him out, Xander's grip was loosened when Jose rose up and connected the top of his head with the lower part of Xander's jaw. Taking a step back he flipped around and lessened the pain of Xander's arm lock before twisting around and landing a heavy kick to the side of Xander's head. Not letting go of his arm his opponent pulled him back into a heavy clothesline. As the air rushed out of his lungs with the impact Xander lay on the mat and looked up where his Jose Cuervo grinned down at him.
"So Xander, what did you learn today?" the figure said as he helped Xander back to his feet where Xander devoted a good portion of his concentration on just breathing.
"I learned (Gasp) Not to (Gasp) Underestimate you," he grated out as he looked at the other who was shaking his head slightly as he stepped out of the ring.
"You never did underestimate me Xander… you simple did not have the necessary power to keep your submission hold in place long enough to disable me, that coupled with the fact that you were 'Playing fair' meant I had a decided advantage in ending the fight," he said as he stepped over and pulled two bottles out of the fridge and set them down on the coffee table before he sat down in the recliner. "Remember Xander, what you did was perfect… for the ring. We're not going to be fighting in the ring and you need to learn to play dirty sometimes. I know of several people who would have killed you just then," he said shrugging as he pulled the top off one of the beers and handed it to Xander as the young man carefully set himself down on the couch.
Xander accepted the bottle but just held it as he watched the other man "You mean the reason you won't let me put on the mask is because I won't cheat?" he asked as the other took a long drink before he shook his head.
"No Xander. I won't let you wear the mask until I know you have the strength to accept who it is… the mask is as much the previous wearers as it is you. If you're not strong enough to handle it the other wearers will dominate and take over… and trust me Xander, some very dark people have worn these masks before us," he said as a shadow seemed to cloud his face for a moment before he smiled again. "Drink up Xander, training's over for the day."
Xander looked down at the bottle and shook his head as images of his father and more recent memories of the hangover from yesterday came back to him. Still shaking his head he leaned over to set the bottle down when Jose stopped him. "One drink with friends is nothing to worry about, when you can't stop with one is when it becomes a problem… besides," he said looking over to the two masks that sat in the display case "the two of them would kick our asses if they ever found out we don't drink in celebration," he said as he turned back and raised the bottle to Xander. "In Celebration?" he said as he watched Xander stare at the mask for a moment before he turned back and lifted the bottle. "In Celebration" he said before he took a slow sip and sat back to work some of the pain from his body.
Dawn knocked on the Door and waited several seconds before she tried the handle and peeked in. "Xander?" she said as she quietly walked through the house. "Hey Xander… you never picked me up on campus, I had to get a taxi…" she trailed off as she walked into the bedroom and looked at the bed for several seconds before she slowly walked outside and checked the door number again. "B 4… that's Xander's room," she thought as she walked down and knocked on the second door down.
The door opened and Dawn smiled at her Ex-Principal. "Hi princa… umm… Mister Wood… umm… I hate to intrude but have you or Faith seen Xander around recently?" she asked as Faith came up to join them at the door.
"No Dawn, haven't seen the X-man in a day or two… why?" the dark slayer asked when she saw the concerned look on Dawn's face.
Dawn frowned for a second before she shook off the feeling. "Nothing really big, just Xander promised to pick me up on campus today but he never showed up… I looked in his room and it doesn't look like he has been sleeping there," she said before she turned away. "I was just concerned… maybe I'll ask the Slayer Lites if they will keep an eye out for him or his car while there on patrol," she said more to herself as she walked down the hall.
She failed to notice the dark slayer's look of concern as Faith turned back into the apartment and considered the implications for several seconds. "Damn it, hey Wood I'm going out," she said as she slipped two stakes into her belt before she threw on a leather jacket and turned around to run onto Robin Wood.
"Faith you don't need to do this, the slayers have their patrols and will keep an eye out for Xander, you don't need to step up to DEFCON Five just because he hasn't been seen in a day or two," he said as Faith prepared to go out and risk her life again.
"It's not that… X doesn't make promises to Dawn and not keep them, he'd be dead first… and that's what I'm afraid of," she said hesitantly before she walked around him and picked up the cell phone from near the door. "Stay by the phone and call me if you get any info," she said before she was gone.
Xander groaned as he lay down on the couch and looked over at Jose who was smiling from his seat. "What's the matter this time? Didn't beat me up enough?" he asked as the fellow warrior slid a piece of paper over to him.
"Nope… just figured it was time you earned your keep," he said as Xander picked up the paper and glanced at it before he looked up.
"You want me to go into a Hard Core Championship? Did you take leave of your senses or just go AWOL for a bit?" he said as the other just shrugged.
"Neither, you need to learn to fight a real opponent and the ten grand purse will go a ways to paying me back for… psychological trauma," he said as Xander sat up with a groan.
"Hey if you had done as I asked I would have never thrown up and you would still have a mostly full box of fruit loops instead of a box of stomach chunks," he said with a shudder as he thought back to the hangover following his first and last drinking spree.
The current building owner just shrugged. "If I had done as you asked I would have had to find a bullet of, and let me quote you here 'sufficient proportions to guarantee the death of the acid rock band in your skull,'" he said as Xander lay back and groaned again. "Besides Xander… it's not like the kids have never seen a sick person before, just most of the time they don't throw up in a box of cereal when offered breakfast," he said as Xander grimaced at the memory before he looked up at Jose and asked a question that had bothered him for a while.
"Jose… why did you start this?" He said indicating the building around them with a broad sweep of his hands. "I mean, you're one of the best fighters I've seen in a ring… why not go Pro and make a fortune, or go into movies or something else that is non-lethal?" he said as his current mentor smiled over at him before he leaned foreword.
"I guess I should be the one asking you that Xander, I mean here you are at the prime of your life and after having fought Demons and vampires for seven years, losing friends and family along the way and most recently losing your entire hometown… why do you still fight?" he said then waved off any answer. "Xander I fight because that's what I do… I fight for these kids, I fight to give them a future and to give them something I never had when I was growing up, a home that's safe and secure," he said as he watched his student's reaction. "Xander, I know a lot about your past… but I don't know everything and I doubt if I want to. I've met people who fight the darkness for a living… mostly they're stuck up obnoxious asses who believe they have the right to be that way because they fight for people who don't know about the shadows. I fight to protect these kids from the shadows that claimed my world… the same shadows that claimed yours," he said sadly before he glanced up at the clock "Aah hell Xander we're late already."
Pete looked up from his desk as the door slammed open and the small female entered with a look he distinctly remembered from his fourth wife. Pete being the brave, strong, intelligent and observant being he was, dove for the window. The heavy oak desk she swung at him had other thoughts to the matter as it connected with his head and drove him to the floor where he curled up and whimpered, the woman dropped the desk and stepped over to the sniveling "Locater" she had been told about. Slamming the creature into the wall she held it several inches off the ground.
"Okay Pete… I've been to three places already looking for information and guess what. Now I'm tired of asking nicely… so I'm going to give you a description of a young man I want information on and you're going to tell me… or I'm going to drag your ass to a hardware store about a block from here and try out several of the power tools and their attachments on you," she said as she tightened her grip on his neck before she spoke again. "He is about yay tall, dark hair and a patch over his left eye. He drives a Silver Eclipse with license plate number NCC-1701… now where is he?" she asked as she let go of the creature's neck.
He quickly scampered over to a filing cabinet and looked through a folder list for several seconds before he came back. "Umm… th-that vehicle was seen outside of Lin's place two days ago… I-i-it hasn't been seen since," he stuttered as the woman turned and walked out. Several minutes later Pete was just getting settled again when the door slammed open and another woman entered with a very familiar look //I hate my life// Pete thought absently as he dove for the window.
Xander sat up in bed at the incessant knocking on the door. "I'm up… I'm up already," he grumbled more to himself than to the person of his annoyance as he got up and pulled on a pair of sweat pants before he walked over and opened the door, only to be forced to the floor when several very small children rushed in and tackled him in mumbles and sobs. "Wait wait wait now… I understand babble just fine, but I'm not multi babble capable… what happened?"
He finally got an answer when the oldest //Jenna// he thought hushed them and turned back to him. "Men in black s-suits came in and took Uncle Jose away along with several of the k-kids," she said in a halting stutter that brought back painful memories of a fallen friend.
Snapping out of the pain he looked down at them. "Is this all the kids left here?" he said and smiled when he received a nod from her. "Okay Jenna… I want you to get the kids some stuff together to play with and clothes to wear while I get you a ride over to Aunt Jane and her robot okay? Then I'll go get Jose away from them… but I really need to know Jenna… did any of the men have anything else that you noticed?" he asked and cursed silently when they shook there heads in the negative.
As they filed out to get ready to go one of the older one's stopped and turned back. "They sounded weird… kinda like that James Boon guy Uncle Jose likes," he said with a slight lisp before he left to get his stuff together leaving an altogether stunned Xander. //James Boon? No… James Bond? What the hell would a bunch of brits want with Jose?// he thought before he got to the task of dressing.
Xander watched the bus full of kids drive off into the night. To 'Auntie Jane and her Robot' he thought with an absent smile as he thought back to the Russian made military robot Jane had been fixing for the past several years. Shaking off the feeling Xander turned back into the house and quietly walked up the stairs to the training room. Walking across the mat he wondered again if this was a good idea and once again came to the same conclusion he had before. //Jose is to damned good a fighter… if he got taken while in protection mode over these kids I don't stand a chance in Sunnydale of taking them down// he thought as he cabinet and looked at the contents within. After staring at the dark armor that had been worn by his predecessors he silently slipped the chest plate on and buckled it down.
//Jose said the mask was Dangerous you can't just throw it on and hope for the best… Yeah but I also can't let these assholes take one of my friends// he thought as he pulled the armored boots on and strapped them down before picking up the bracers. //You could call the others, the slayerlings could help you here… damn it I forgot to call them yesterday, and no I can't ask them to help here, if this is the watchers counsel I need to know what they want with Jose before I take it to the others… but Jose could be dangerous and the Council may be doing the right thing… if Jose is a threat, to my friends or the kids here then I will deal with him… and if its not the counsel?... then may god have mercy on there souls// he raged to himself as he finished with the armor and stepped over to the display case that held the two masks within and carefully removed the dark mask from its stand. //I never realized that I lost my left eye and this one the left eye is already gone// he thought absently before he steeled himself and thrust the mask over his head.
<Flash>
Where the first mask came into being. He is in a Mayan temple after besting all challengers to win the Kiva he offers up his eye to the gods for another to go to the second greatest warrior.
<Flash>
He is in a war against armored monsters on four legs… they merely point and death and thunder follows after them.
<Flash>
He is running through the Jungle to escape Cortez and his armies after they slaughter his people.
<Flash>
He is hunting the monsters in the deepest parts of Brazil.
And more… and more… and more the memories flood into Xander as he fights to maintain who he is. He watches the memories as he pulls an armored figure from his horse in Cortez's invasion and dons the armor himself. He watches as he terrorizes a Fort in the desert by standing off in the distance with his inhuman screams. He watches through atrocities and miracles that he has received and inflicted throughout the ages, of children born and family murdered. Xander watches it all until with a scream of fury he forces himself back into control. Standing up he pulls the other mask out of the case before he rushes out the door.
Heads turned to the door as an attractive female entered and walked quietly over to the bar where the bartender moved over with a grin.
"What do you need pumpkin? And are you over eighteen so you can get it?" he leered before her hand snapped out and wrapped around his neck.
"I'm looking for a young human, about yay tall, Dark hair and an eye patch over his left eye. Word has it his car was seen outside a few nights ago and I want to know where he went," she said as the bartender tried desperately to gain much needed air.
A Bregen Demon stepped over and tapped her on the shoulder. "He won't know as he only runs the day shift, me and my brother on the other hand were here that night," he said as the woman dropped the over weight human and turned on him.
"Okay you have one minute to wow me," she said as she stood up to the eight foot demon who merely smiled.
"Of course… the young man entered and choose a booth to himself, over the next three hours he proceeded to consume seven beers and two bottles of Banshee before he went up on stage and proceeded to insult and taunt the patrons here in an attempt to start a fight, my brother and I were forced to remove him from the premises and told him to find his way home or a new place to drink… I believe he was followed out by one of the semi regular patrons here."
"Who followed him out?" she said with deadly venom in her voice as the Bregen thought back.
"He seemed mostly human aside from the head of an animal… I'm not sure what but it seemed rather catlike. If he's not here the only other regular place he seems to show up is in the fighting rings around the city," he said with an apologetic shrug before she looked around.
"Where did you throw him out?" she asked and nodded when he pointed at the back door before he looked to a corner and sighed.
"If you will excuse me but I am required else were… is there anything else?" he asked and nodded when she shook her head and headed for the back door.
//Damn it Xander why the hell were you getting drunk?// she thought as she stepped out, she failed to notice the front door open and a young woman enter and walk quietly over to the bar.
Xander was mad. No, scratch that, King was pissed and Xander agreed with him whole heartedly. He only got madder when he looked at the passenger seat at the leopard mask that no longer had a wearer. He was thinking general bad thoughts on the people who took Jose when he noticed a rather heavy built human stomp across the walkway and just shove the people out of his way. //Him I know, yup definitely seen him before, where have I seen… HOLY SHIT THAT GUY KILLED ME!// he thought as images of Armor King looking up only to see the boot of this monster coming down on the side of his head. //Ooh yeah, this asshole will have something to do with this// he thought with a grin as he pulled over and put on the hood of his jacket before he stepped out.